After Piper Aerostar Initial Training he flew with an Aerostar Pilot for fifty (50) hours to gain experience in the Aerostar. Ken feels the fifty hours was very valuable for maintenance and safety purposes.

In 1992 Ken got his Instrument rating in his Aerostar. He flew his Aerostar IFR for ten years until his flying declined to 50 hours a year. In 2005 Ken received his Citation C-500 Type Rating and flew a Citation II for 500 hours in the next three years. In addition to Citation II he also has 140 hours right seat in Citation XLS.

Ken has over 4000 hours total time with a Commercial pilot license in both single and multi engine aircraft with 2500 hours in Aerostars. To stay proficient with the Aerostar Maintenance Ken currently works for a maintenance facility who maintains several Aerostars in the Oklahoma area.

Ken feels to help other owners with their Aerostar flying and maintenance issues you need to work with the bird on a daily basis.

Burdella Bacon, Membership Support and Log Editor - When Ken Bacon became the Executive Director of AOA, much to her surprise Burdella (Ken's wife) got a new job too!  She manages the membership, edits the AOA Log, plans AOA conventions/meetings, monitors the AOA web site and handles product sales.  In addition to AOA duties Burdella is a Registered Nurse.  She has also been a computer programmer and along with Ken owned and operated computer hardware/software companies.  Since 1990 she has ridden right seat in a 601P.  Shortly after the aerostar was purchased, Burdella took the Piper Factory Flying Companion Course in Vero Beach, FL. When she is not begging people for articles for the AOA Log Burdella enjoys her grandchildren, traveling and playing bridge.

Bob Bliss, Treasurer - Bob started flying in 1986. He was on his last solo cross country when a tower controller announced the infamous Bill Buckner thru-the-legs error in Game 6 of the World Series.

After building time in a Grumman Tiger and then Grumman Cougar, Bob purchased an Aerostar 600 in 1993. After 200 hours, it was time to add pressurization and weather capability. The 600 was traded for a 700 in 1995. It's been 1,600 great (although expensive) hours, bringing total hours to over 2,500.

Bob flies regularly to Florida with his wife and two teenage boys. They have traveled from their home in New York City to Canada, the Bahamas, and throughout the eastern half of the US. Special trips were to the Badlands of North Dakota for a dinosaur dig (buzzing Mount Rushmore), as well as out to El Paso and then the AOA Convention in Santa Fe.

When Bob isn't flying, he's managing a small hedge Fund in New York City, hanging with Laurie and the boys, or swimming competitively.

Joel Champlin, Vice President - Joel Champlin owns and manages a small oil and gas exploration and production company operating in Oklahoma and Texas.  He and his wife Kelly have 4 boys and 4 daughters-in-law plus 10 grandchildren. They live on a lake just south of Dallas.  

Joel owns the 601P (N88CX) his father bought from Ted Smith in 1976.  He has over 2500 hours in Aerostars and 3400 hours total, flying for both business and personal use.  He is an ATP and has a seaplane rating. His hobbies include sailing, fishing, snow skiing, hiking and hunting. 

Tom Gross-

Jim Hudgin -

Karl Hutter - A third generation Aerostar owner and past AOA President, Karl has been flying Aerostars for as long as he can remember. His father was introduced to Aerostars by his father-in-law, Karl's grandfather, who was a founding member of the AOA. Karl took his multi-engine check ride in the family 601P, and before he knew it, owned a 600 model and was hosting the 2006 Reno Convention!

Karl currently has 2,600 hours between the Cessna 182, Citation 525, and Aerostars, but over 1,200 of them have been spent flying his 1976 Aerostar 600, both in support of his family business, Click Bond, a hardware designer and supplier to the major aerospace OEMs, and for family fun with his wife Jen and daughter Hannah. His Aerostar has carried them faithfully on adventures to Baja, Mexico and Canada, an Aerostar group trip to Alaska, and even to the dusty fun of the Burning Man festival.

Walter Kahn - Walter is an ophthalmologist from Rumson NJ who has 7800 hours PIC starting with a Comanche 250, Twin Comanche, and progressing to an Aerostar 600A in 1986. In the past few years he has taken aerobatic training in the L-39 and the T-33.

Most of his flying has been with his children and his wife Susan who has soloed. Some of his family flights have been to Alaska, Labrador, Artic Ocean in northern Canada, Central America and the Caribbean.

He has also flown his Aerostar to some of his volunteer missions with Project Orbis teaching modern eye surgery in developing countries.

Recently he has received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award from the FAA.

Doug Moskowitz - Doug’s aviation journey began in childhood with frequent bicycle trips to the local airport to watch airplanes take off and land, always hoping for a ride around the pattern. One day, that opportunity came, and he never looked back. He earned his pilot’s license in 1988, became a CFI soon after, and went on to become a commercial glider pilot, CFII and MEI. Doug purchased his first Aerostar in 1999—a 602P/700. In 2006, he transitioned to a turbine-powered Twin Commander 690A before returning to the Aerostar in 2022 with a 601P/700

Doug regularly flies his Aerostar for business and personal travel, including visits to his manufacturing plants and trips to see family and friends across the country. His business manufactures aircraft refuelers for commercial, general, and military aviation, which are in operation across the United States and in 75 countries worldwide.

As a member of the Aerostar Owners Association, Doug supports its mission to make the Aerostar the safest piston twin aircraft in operation. He enjoys connecting with fellow members to share strategies for enhancing proficiency and improving safety margins.

Richard Schmidt, MD - Born 12 March, 1942 at Mackinac County Airport, St Ignace in the part of Northern Michigan know as the UP or Upper Peninsula. My father managed the airport and operated a flight school and maintenance facility. I was born at the airport because Mom says the snow was too deep to get out to the hospital. However, the doctor and his nurse waded through the snow from the highway to get to the house in time for my delivery.

Mom ran the Airport Restaurant, where she also made school lunches for the local school. She tells the story that whenever I was underfoot as a toddler she would shoo me out of the house to the airfield and Dad would put me in the luggage compartment (which was inside the cabin) of a Taylorcraft while he was giving flight lessons.

I soloed in Dad's Aeronica Champ at age 16 as did my two brothers, Skip and Paul. Both my brothers are now sailors while I now hold private, commercial with multi engine, single engine, land and sea licenses and an instrument rating.

After graduating from Charlotte High School in Punta Gorda, Florida in 1960, I worked for three years as a Merchant Marine sailor saving money for college.

I graduated from Florida State University in 1967 and the University of Florida School of Medicine in 1971. My studies included a year in Germany working in a factory, studying German at Albert Ludwigs University in Frieberg and living with a German family. Also I spent 10 weeks in Yugoslavia studying the public health system during Medical School.

I practiced in the specialty of Emergency Medicine until retirement in 2005. This included a stint as Chief of Emergency Medicine at Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers, Florida and practicing overseas with Saudi Aramco from 1990 to 2002.

The first aircraft I owned was a Cessna 210, purchased new in 1979. I added a J-3 Cub in 1987. I currently own the 601P/700 Aerostar and a 1941 Stearman. The J-3 Cub is now one of many restoration projects. I also own a "workhorse" Cessna 172-RG.

I reside at the Buckingham Army Air Corp Field (built as an artillery training center during WWII) in an Airport Community with my wife Peggy.